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Tammie Ruesenberg
OLIVES LAS VEGAS
Bellagio Hotel
3600 Las Vegas Blvd. S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 693-8181
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A Profile and Interview with
Tammie Ruesenberg, Sommelier, Olives, Las Vegas
By Jim Clarke
and Michann Thompson
The route from ski bum to sommelier
may not seem a direct one, but it certainly worked for Tammie
Ruesenberg. She grew up in Colorado; her first experience
with the restaurant industry came at age 14, as a busgirl.
After college, she got a job as a server at Keystone Ranch
with an eye toward being close to the ski slopes. Along
with getting in some great skiing, she also got bitten by
the wine bug.
Eventually her interest in wine took
her across the country: “I worked for a distribution
company; It was a great education. Then the Country Vineyard
distributors in Virginia. I worked at Bertolinis (in Las
Vegas). Once Bellagio opened, I came over as a server; I’ve
been there ever since.”
Tammie enjoys the challenge that Olives
offers. “Olives’ food is very complicated –
so many layers of flavors, it’s all over the place.
As far as trying to pair wine with food, it’s a huge
challenge, but we do well with it.” She tries to balance
their wines by the glass between evergreens like Cabernet
and Chardonnay and wines more specifically suited to the
menu. Offering great wines in their by the glass program
makes it even easier to match wines with individual menu
items. While her guests seem most accustomed to New World
wines, Tammie has made more room on the winelist for Mediterranean
offerings, again because of their suitability with their
food.
It’s not just working at Olives
that Tammie likes, it’s working at Olives in Las Vegas.
“Las Vegas is a cool market. People like to know about
wine.” She also enjoys having like-minded peers nearby:
“Las Vegas sommeliers are not too competitive. There
is a lot of camaraderie.” But it does put some pressure
on her to make her program standout. She wants to make people
feel comfortable with choosing wine, and to think about
pairings as fun, but not the be-all end-all of a dining
experience. Her guests appreciate her fun attitude; she
says, “I have ongoing email dialogues with guests
who have come in and tried the wines.”
Tammie and her husband Tom have three
boys, Remy, Rayce, and Ryder, aged 15, 10, and 9, respectively.
